Chair bracket



Sept. 19, 1961 R J. SILVERMAN CHAIR BRACKET Filed Sept. 21, 1959 .& HE

. INVENTOR: RUDOLPH J. SILVERMAN ATT'YS,

3,000,669 (I BRACKET Rudolph J. Silverman, 1210 Crofton Ava, Highland Park, Ill. Filed Sept. 21, 1959, Ser. No. 841,177 7 Claims. (Cl. 297-451) This invention relates to improvements in brackets for use in providing supports of various kinds for furniture, especially chairs.

In the structuring of chairs, for oflice, school and/or home, where the legs and back support are tubular metal, it is imperative to prow'de the greatest possible rigidity in the assembled unit. Moreover, there is great advantage if the several pieces of each unit can be shipped and/or stored knockdown for later assembly, at the point of use, with ease and possess a stability equal to that of comparable units shipped completely assembled from the factory.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form of primary bracket for attachment to tubular metal legs and, where needed, back supports for mounting a horizontal element, such as chair seat; to provide an improved type of bracket of this kind formed from a single piece of material for bonding thereto the legs and a back support and fixing the horizontal element thereon; to provide an improved type of bracket of this kind preferably in the form of a single stamping, having a channel-shaped bridge section with oppositelyextending, coplanar-disposed, perimetrical, reinforcing flanges, arched and recessed to afford sockets for tubular metal legs and back support; and to provide an improved bracket of this kind of such simple design as to make highly economical its manufacture in different dimensions and extremely facile the assembling thereof, singly or in various multiples, for attachment to furniture units at the point of use.

In the adaptation shown in the accompanying drawrngs;

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a chair wherein the legs, the back support, and the seat are secured to a pair of brackets constructed in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective of a pair of brackets with the bonded supporting legs and back supports, as shown inFIG. 1 but with the seat shown in phantom; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, perspective view of one of these improved brackets, a part of which is shown broken away to more clearly indicate the cross-sectional form thereof.

The essential concept of this invention involves a form of rigid material with an elongated, channel-shaped bridge section having integral, perimetrical, right-angular flanges extending in opposite coplanar relationship, which flanges andthe adjacentportions of the parallel sides of the bridge section are arched toward the bridge-section base to provide sockets for bonding the legs and back support to the brackets. v V

A bracket B, embodying the foregoing concept, comprises stamped or molded stable material shaped to pro vide a bridge section 5 with the oppositely-extending flanges 6 integrated with the perimeters of the bracket sides 7 and formed with pairs of sockets 8 and 9 respectively adapted for setting therein legs 11 and back support 12 (as shown in FIG. 1) for bonding to the bracket, on one or more of which assembled brackets B may have secured thereto a horizontal support element 13.

Preferably, the brackets B are stampings of malleable steel. However, for certain kinds of use the stable material might be aluminum. For other uses the bracket B might be molded plastic.

nited States Patent '0 18 of the flanges 6 and the inclined parts 19, the faces Patented Sept. 19, 1951 the bridge section 5 and extend oppositely outward in coplanar disposition. The flanges 6 and the parallel sides 7 are inclined upwardly outward toward the bridge ends 16, leaving the middle section 18 of the flanges 6 substantially flat for a substantial part of the length of the bridge section.

The faces of these upwardly-outward inclined flanges- 6 and adjacent edges of the parallel sides 7 are arched at- 19, to approximate the contour of the ends 16, and presenting inclined parts 21 opposed to the edges 17 of the bridge ends 16. These arched parts 19 form the leg sockets 8 Inwardly adjacent the juncture of the middle sections of the flanges 6 and the integrated edges of the parallel sides 7 are formed with substantially semi-circular recesses which constitute the sockets 9. Y

The perimeters of the downwardly-extending bridge section ends 16 are flared outwardly slightly as shown at 22. Also, the flanges 6 at the crowns of the respective arched parts 19 is provided with a reinforcing rib 23 to enhance the strength thereof at these parts.

The legs 11, for use with which these brackets B are formed from metal tubing, and, as is more or less conventional, in the tube is bent medially, in substantially U- shape to form a pair of legs (see FIG. 1). The legs 11 maybe tapered and are angled outwardly. The extremities'have secured thereto pads 24, commonly used for floor contact.

r The back support 12, as here shown, is a U-bent rod which, intermediate the loop and the free ends, 'is bent to angulate the opposite portions of the support 12.

A pair of the brackets B, a pair of legs 11 and a back support 12 are assembled as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The base parts 25 of the legs 11 are set in the sockets 8 and bonded to the two brackets in any conventional manner such as by bolts, welding, etc. The free ends of the back support 12 are set in the sockets 9 and bonded to the pair of brackets B, likewise in any conventional manner.

The seat 13, generally preformed plywood or plastic, is superimposed on the concave faces of the bridge sections 5 of the brackets B and secured in place by one or more pair of screws 26 extending through apertures in the seat 13 and screwed into threaded holes 27 in the base parts 25 of the respective legs 11.

A back piece 28, also of preformed plywood or plastic and suitably dimensioned, is secured by screw 29 to the loop end of the back support 12.

Although, in FIG. 2, the brackets B are shown resting on the leg parts 25 with the concave bases 14 of the bridge sections 5 facing upward, it will be understood that these brackets B could be reversed and bonded to the and rigid structure capable of withstanding the severe usage such, as for example, school furniture is subjected. Moreover, it will be apparent from the foregoing that the brackets B, legs 11, back support 12 and the seat 13 and back-piece 23 may be stored and/or shipped knockdown for assembly at the point of use. The resulting assembly will be fully as rigid and durable as a comparable unit assembled at the factory and shipped assembled to the point of use, if desired.

' It should now be obvious that if the seat and back of the chair were made in one piece, as is in common practice today, such parts as tablet arms or desktops and the like as is commonly used in classroom school furniture could be supported on the rods 12 if the loop portion were bent at right-angles and parallel to the plane of the seat 13, and the usual conventional combination furniture would be produced.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details ofthe construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A preformed furniture bracket of stable material comprising an elongated channel-shaped bridge section having integral oppositely-extending and coplanar-disposed flanges, the flanges and the integrated parallel sides of the bridge section being recessed transversely thereof inwardly from the exposed faces of the flanges towardthe base part to provide sockets wherein to seat legs for bonding to the bracket.

2. A stamped furniture bracket comprising an elongated channel-shaped and slightly-arched bridge section having integral coplanar-disposed flanges extending oppositely outward from the perimeters of the parallel sides of the bridge section, the flanges and the integratedparallel sides of the bridge section at the opposite ends being recessed transversely thereof inwardly from the exposed faces of the flanges toward the. base part to provide substantially semi-circular sockets wherein to seat-cylindrical legs for bonding to the bracket.

3. A preformed furniture bracket of stable material comprising an elongated channel-shaped bridge section having integral oppositely-extending coplanar-disposed flanges, the flanges and the integrated parallel sides of the bridge section at the opposite ends being recessed transversely thereof inwardly from the exposed faces of the flanges toward the base part to provide sockets wherein to seat cylindrical legs for bonding to the bracket, the flanges and integrated parallel sides of the bridge section inwardly adjacent each leg socket being recessed transversely thereof inwardly from the exposed faces of the flanges toward the base part to provide smaller sockets wherein to seat back-support rods for bonding to the bracket.

4. A stamped metal furniture bracket comprising, an elongated channel-shaped bridge section the opposite ends of the base part of which are curved inwardly nearly ninety degrees and the parallel sides of the bridge section adjacent the curved-in ends are arched upwardly toward the base part of the bridge section and then inwardly-downwardly away from the base part, and coplanar-disposed flanges extending oppositely outward from the perimeters of the parallel side of the bridge section, the portions of the flanges extending outward from the bent end and the adjacent arched parallel sides of the bridge section forming sockets disposed transversely of the bridge section wherein to seat cylindrical-shaped legs for bonding to the bracket.

5. A stamped metal furniture bracket comprising, an elongated channel-shaped bridge section the opposite ends of the base part of which are curved inwardly nearly ninety degrees and the parallel sides of the bridge section adjacent the curved-in ends are arched upwardly toward the base part of the bridge section and then inwardlydownwardly away from the base part, and. coplanar-disposed flanges extending oppositely outward from the perimeters of the parallel side of the bridge section, the portions of the flanges extending outward from the bent end and the. adjacent arched parallel sides of the bridge section forming sockets disposed transversely of the bridge section wherein to seat cylindrical-shaped legs for bonding to the bracket, the flanges and the adjacent parts of the parallel sides of the bridge section inwardly of the leg sockets being shaped to provide substantially semicircular sockets also disposed transversely of the bridge section wherein to seat back-support rods for bonding to the bracket.

6. A piece of furniture comprising, a pair of stablematerial brackets each shaped to provide an elongated channel-shaped bridge section having integral coplanardisposed flanges extending oppositely outward from the pen'rneters of the parallel sides of the bridge section, the flanges and the integrated parallel sides of the bridge section being recessed transversely thereof inwardly from the exposed faces of the flanges toward the base part to form leg sockets adjacent the opposite ends of the bridge section, a pair of U-shaped legs having the base parts thereof se in the respective sockets and bonded to the brackets-and a support-elementsuperimposed on and secured to the upwardly-facing base parts of the channel-shaped brackets.

7. A chair comprising, a pair of stamped-metal brackets each shaped to provide an elongated channel-shaped bridge section having integral coplanar-disposed flanges extending oppositely outward from the perinietei's of the parallel sides of the bridge section, the flanges and the integrated parallel sides of the bridge section at the oppositeends being recessed transversely thereof inwardly of the exposed faces of the flanges toward the base part to provide sockets for bonding cylindrical legs to the brackets, the flanges and integrated parallel sides of the bridge section inwardly adjacent each leg socket being i shaped to provide smaller sockets for back-support rods,

a pair of U-shaped legs having the base parts therof set in the respective leg sockets and bonded to the brackets, a U-shaped tubular back-support bent intermediate its ends to angulate'the two parts thereof, the free ends of the back-support being set in the smaller bracket sockets and bonded thereto, a seat superimposed on and secured to the upwardly facing base parts of the bridge section, and a back piece secured to the looped end of the backsupport.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,572,591 Booth Oct. 23, 1951 2,706,519 Kranz Apr. 19, 1955 2,745,474 Blomquist May 15, 1956 2,800,171 Hoven July 23, 1957 

